Tory sent her hand down, letting the stained bristles of her paintbrush glide against the ivory canvas. A streak of black at first, then red. Green here. Brown there. She was getting lost in the flow of her brush, and into the depths of the colors before her.

Paint stained her fingers, and at last she moved away. Her somber bangs hung in her face, accompanied by flaxen streaks that barely tinged her hair. Her bright emerald eyes shined as she stared emotionlessly at the picture before her. A monster…

Tory always painted monsters. She liked them.

It didn't seem happy with it's steel bear-trap teeth grating down into a small brown kitten's corpse. The corpse having no head attached but rather just a skull laying askew from it's body in the canvas' corner. The monster itself was a black silhouette, save for it's flame ringed eyes and shining teeth.

Tory brushed her hand over the dead kitten upon the canvas, giving a faint pout and a sniffle. "Bye bye Mickey…I'm sorry."

Mrs. O'Donnell was pacing back and forth, causing her long blonde curls to bounce out of place with every step only to have them fall back into place quickly. She had just gotten the news that her six year old, Tory's, cat had passed away.

She wasn't particularly fond of the cat, but she wasn't sure what to say to Tory. Mrs. O'Donnell had always been a truthful mother, to the extent that Tory was often left confused. At least, that's what Mrs. O'Donnell thought.

Though, this time was different. She decided to tell Tory that Mickey, the kitten, had run away instead. Her feet were clicking against the wooden steps of the spiral staircase; her hand aimlessly guiding her along the railing. She reached the top, walking over to a plain white door that stood out amongst the blue-painted hallway. Purple letters marked the door upon a wooden plate, simply saying "Tory's Room" along with a few decorative flowers.

Tory's head lifted as she clutched the paper tightly, setting down the watercolor covered brush and going towards the door. She looked up, swiping away a stray tear, and opened the door.

"Yes, Momma?"

Mrs. O'Donnell swallowed faintly, setting her hand upon Tory's shoulder. "Honey, I need to tell you about something…" Tory shook her head, holding up the picture and ignoring the comment. "Look, Momma! I painted another picture."

Tory's mother simply looked down at the piece of paper, smeared upon by all sorts of colors in no apparent pattern. It was simply a piece of paper, scribbled on by a child in a typical manner. "That's nice, dear. What's it of?"

Tory sniffled, clutching the picture in a hug. "Mickey. The shadow man got her. He ate her up."

Mrs. O'Donnell's jade eyes went wide, as she shook her head. A few blonde curls bounced free with the moment as she simply put on a smile. "Oh… My…"

Tory nodded her head, walking back into her room and sitting down in her chair. She picked back up the brush, dipping it in the water and putting it to another piece of paper.

Mrs. O'Donnell, after deciding that perhaps now wasn't the best time to tell her daughter about "run-a-way cat", walked over to her daughter's side and knelt down with a smile. "So what are you drawing now?"

Tory looked down at the piece of paper, getting lost in it once more and not responding for awhile until she felt that she was done. She held up the paper to her mother, wiping away another tear. "It's your turn now," was all she said as she peered down at the paper, then looked behind her mother and pointed.

As Mrs. O'Donnell turned around, she shrieked. She was greeted by a large black silhouette of a monster, with fire brimmed eyes and a bear-trap smile.

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